Romulus & Remus
by Avarianus
Summary: Two brothers in all but blood, raised by the wolf, chosen by the god of war. They should have never existed, their existence was a mistake, but their fate will lead them to greatness. They will fight, they will overcome, they will win. All for the glory of Rome. AU - One-shot collection
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: A brother's return**

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**Okay, because of some very insistent fans of my old stories I have finally decided to reupload all of them back here on FF, so they won't be lost. So yeah, enjoy this stuff, but keep your insults to yourself this time...  
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**So the basic idea behind this story is that Percy grew up with Jason under Lupa's care and both became Rome's new Romulus and Remus...**

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The entire camp was on high alert when they suddenly saw the approaching ship. In a great rush the demigods and legacies gathered, weapons and armors ready, all ready for a fight. It was an odd sight for the battle hardened soldiers of New Rome, but it did not scare them. Some where even eager for a fight. But the ship stopped, not approaching any further all of a sudden. It just floated there... near New Rome.

With purposeful strides he approached his troops, in full battle armor, only missing the helmet, which he had forgone, so everyone could see his face clearly. His soldiers resolve strengthened with his presence. They believed in him, they needed him. He was more than just a Praetor. In the few years since he had left the Wolf House he had become the heart and soul of New Rome. Together with his brother. Lupa's favorite children. Her new Romulus and Remus. At least until the latter had disappeared nearly a year ago. Now only Romulus was left to lead them. Romulus, Conqueror of Mount Othrys, bane of the Amazons, defender of Rome, son of Neptune.

"Sons and daughters of Rome, stand ready to defend your home." He yelled loudly. His exclamation was met with a fierce war-cry of his Legion. They were ready, he knew it.

"Lord Romulus, the unknown enemy is no longer approaching." A young woman in the armor of a Centurion walked next to him, easily matching his speed as he quickly walked past the rows of soldiers. Demigods and legacies, children and descendants of the gods. They would do their parents proud today.

"Don't fall for their tricks, Kinzie. They will come. They wait for us to make a mistake." Romulus said calmly. He saw the restlessness on her face. Her desire to fight. She hadn't lost that since the day he had defeated her. "You must learn to control your urge to fight, Centurion. Remember that it was your impatience that has led to your downfall in the past."

She looked away in shame. Not because he had chided her in front of the Legion, but because he had to remind her of the day when she was disgraced in the eyes of the Amazons. The day he had not just beaten her, but also taken everything she had known and valued away, only to give her life a new meaning. She liked where she was now, but the memory was still unpleasant.

"Romulus, do not underestimate the enemy either." Reyna, his Co-Praetor admonished him, as he joined her in front of the assembled Legion. She looked at him critically for some moments, her features showing no sign of any emotion but steely resolve. But Romulus knew her better than that, he could easily see the doubt in her eyes. The worry. It was not every day that you had to face a possible enemy ship, which is flying above their home of all places.

He leaned closer to her, a hand on her armored shoulder. "Don't worry, we have faced Titans before, a mere ship will not defeat us." He whispered into her ear. No one else heard his words. Reyna looked at him stoically, before she allowed herself a tight-lipped smile.

"I hope you know what you are doing, Percy." His birth name, Perseus, or Percy for short. Not many called him by that name these days. He had all but discarded it over the years, instead taking the name Lupa had given him during his childhood in her care. Only close friends called him Percy now.

He gave her a confidant grin, before he unsheathed his sword and walked ahead. "Romans, get ready, but wait for my sign." He yelled out. The air was filled with sounds of weapons being drawn, arrows notched and shields raised from the ground. The Legion was ready.

It was then that he saw a plank being lowered from the ship. It was floating much lower now, close to the Field of Mars. He watched the ship wearily, as people started to leave the ship. Teenagers by their looks, none of them dressed like real soldiers. Instead they wore orange shirts with some imprint he couldn't read from the distance. But some of them carried weapons.

"What fools come before the army of New Rome, armed with barely any armor to protect themselves." Percy asked incredulously.

"They are either fools or very confident in their own strength." Reyna said, as she joined him once more. Her faithful dogs were at her side, growling at the sight of the unknown people. "But they must be at least demigods. No mortal would be so audacious to approach our home like this."

Percy nodded, his eyes stilled fixed on the approaching group. His grip on his sword tightened slightly, before someone ran up to him. One of his most... troublesome new Legionaries.

"Wait. They are not your enemies, Romulus. They are demigods, just like you and me. Greek demigods." The girl said, as she stood next to Percy. Her electric blue eyes were trained on him, imploring him to believe her.

"I will not endanger my home, Thalia Grace." He looked back towards the approaching group, finally recognizing a face among those unknown demigods. A face Percy knew all too well. "Remus..." He said almost breathlessly. Even Reyna looked stunned.

The Greek group stopped a few feet away from Percy and Reyna, all of them looking slightly unsettled by the armed and battle ready Legion before them. But one boy and two girls continued their approach, until they stood face to face with the Praetors.

"Romulus." The blond boy said with a bright grin, before he grasped Percy's arm in greeting and gave him a brotherly hug.

Percy returned the hug without any hesitation. "Remus, but how? We thought you were dead."

"It takes much more to kill a son of Rome."

"Jason, who is this? Why is he calling you Remus?" A blond girl with stormy gray eyes asked with a suspicious frown.

"Annabeth, Cassandra, this is Romulus, my brother in all but blood. The Conqueror of Mount Othrys, bane of the Amazons and the most powerful son of Neptune that New Rome has ever seen." The girls looked incredulous at Percy, especially the black-haired girl Jason had called Cassandra. "Brother, those two lovely ladies are Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena... and Cassandra Jackson, daughter of Poseidon." Once he had finished the introduction, Jason could see great surprise in the face of his brother. Percy looked at Cassandra in disbelieve. But he neither made any move, nor did he say a word to the girl.

Jason then looked over to Reyna, giving her a sad smile. He already knew that she wouldn't like most of the things he was about to tell them. Especially the more personal things. "Reyna, still as stoic as ever."

"You disappeared, Remus. What excuse do you have for abandoning your duties to Rome and the Legion?" She glared at him as if she tried to set him on fire with her eyes.

"Easy there, Reyna. My brother has just returned from the dead. Leave him alive for long enough to answer your questions, instead of trying to turn him to ashes with your fierce glare." Percy said with a laugh. The tension he had felt ebbed away when he saw his surrogate brother. Remus wouldn't do anything that would endanger New Rome. "Sons and daughters of Rome, stand down. Rejoice, Remus has returned to us on this marvelous day." Percy yelled towards the Legion, which still stood battle ready behind him.

"You heard Lord Romulus. Take down your weapons." Kinzie yelled at some sons of Mars who hesitated to put away their weapons. Percy shook his head with a slight grin. He knew how much the former Amazon still enjoyed making the male Legionaries suffer. Especially the sons of Mars.

"Lord Romulus? You have been busy in my absence." Jason said, as he put his arm around Percy's shoulder and both slowly walked towards their fellow Romans.

"Big understatement. When a Praetor disappears without leaving any trace, things tend to get a bit troublesome."

"So they made you Praetor in my stead?" Well it was obvious, since Percy was wearing the golden armor of a Praetor.

"I am Praetor, yes, but I also lead the Romans as their supreme leader. I will achieve Lupa's dream, I will lead Rome to a second golden age. With you by my side, brother."

"Together as always. But first there will be other things in our way. A great threat is rising and we can only hope to win by working together with the Greek." Jason said somewhat somberly. He hated to be the one to ruin the mood.

"Is that why you are dressed like a peasant? Going to combat in camp shirts without any armor, what are you, ten? Lupa taught us better than that." Percy asked with mock condescension.

"Percy, this is serious. War is upon us. A war bigger than the fight against Krios and his monsters." Jason said with urgency.

"Then let us go home. There we will discuss this. You have much to tell."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Sons of the Wolf**

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Poseidon looked at the children with a heavy heart. A boy and a girl. Twins. His children. Demigods, born from an affair he had with a mortal woman. Children that were technically not supposed to exist. Of course he was beyond happy when the children had been born. He was beaming with pride after he had learned about the birth of his twin children. Something that had also raised some suspicions from his brother, Zeus. The king of Olympus was curious why his brother was in such a good mood, for several years to boot. Usually Poseidon was like the sea, unpredictable, ever changing. Calm one moment, only to become a deadly storm in the next. But for several years it seemed as if nothing could spoil Poseidon's good mood and that was suspicious.

And to make things worse his children were also powerful. Usually it would be a reason for pride, but for demigods this also meant that they had an exceptionally strong smell. A smell that would attract monsters. And two demigods in one place would increase the risk extremely.

Poseidon knew that he had to do something to protect them. Them and their mother. But the thing he had to do would cause his children much grief. But he had no choice. They had to be separated. He shifted to his Roman form, Neptune, as he gazed upon his sleeping children. With only four years they were both still so extremely young for what would await them. He would take one of them to Lupa, to have her raise the child. To raise one of them as a Roman demigod, while the other would remain a Greek demigod.

He thought for a moment as he watched his children. Perseus, his son and Cassandra, his daughter. After some hesitation he took his son, not willing to subject his daughter to the harsher life as a Roman demigod. Boys usually fared better at Camp Jupiter. With great regret he twisted the Mist and changed the memories of the children and their mother. Made them forget about their relation. They would not remember each other, not until they would meet again, sometimes in the far away future. Maybe they would never meet at all. The gods still kept Roman and Greek demigods away from each other, to avoid another civil war. With one last rueful look he left the home of his lover, with the sleeping boy in his arms. Perseus would not return to this place.

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Lupa, the immortal Roman wolf goddess, looked with wonderment, as she saw Neptune approach. He was a rare visitor to the Wolf House and what made it even more curious, was the fact, that he carried a child. A boy, no older than four or five by the looks.

"Ave, Lupa. How have you fared since our last meeting." Neptune greeted cordially. He knew that this goddess would not make his son's life any easier, but he also knew that she would prepare Perseus for anything that might await him at Camp Jupiter.

"Neptune... what an... unexpected surprise. You have not shown yourself to me for nearly a millenia. And who is this child you bring to me?" Lupa growled lightly at Neptune, showing her large fangs in the process.

"My son, Perseus. I bring him to you, so you can raise him to be a good Roman." He wasn't happy about this, that much was obvious to Lupa. But she didn't care about his feelings. All demigods had to pass her tests, before they could hope to get to Camp Jupiter.

"You named him after a Greek hero? How unusual." Lupa said, as she got closer ans sniffed at the boy. "He even smells Greek. Are you trying to fool me, Sea God?"

"He is my son. A son of Rome." Neptune said with insistence.

Lupa still looked unconvinced. "Curious." She looked intently at the sleeping boy, before she repeated her last statement. "Very curious."

"What is curious, wolf? He isn't my first demigod son that has to pass your judgment. And he likely won't be the last." Neptune said with annoyance.

"Don't think that I don't know about that oath, that you have sworn in your Greek form. And despite that oath you bring me a child that shouldn't exist in the first place."

"If you try to harm him because of that silly oath, I will personally drown you in the sea." Neptune said threateningly. An aura of anger surrounded him, which would have intimidated even most lesser gods. But Lupa was not the usual minor goddess. She merely looked at the boy with curiosity shining in her eyes.

"Curious, that you bring this son on the same day that Juno has brought another child to me. What a coincidence." Neptune looked baffled by that. Juno bringing a child here? Surely it couldn't be her own, she never had any demigod children. She was the epitome of fidelity. "She brought a son of Jupiter, to answer your unasked question."

Neptune wanted to laugh when he heard that his brother had broken the oath, just like him. They were brothers beyond any doubt. Both were unable to keep it in their pants, as Juno had once stated in a fit of anger.

"Who is the child?" Neptune asked.

"Jason Grace, son of Jupiter and champion of Juno." Lupa said dryly. "Don't ask me why Lady Juno has decided to take care of the boy, it doesn't matter to me, so I would advise you to keep the peace, Neptune."

He had to admit, it was an interesting situation. A son of Jupiter would grow up with a son of Neptune. Would they be friends or rivals? I didn't matter now. At the moment he had to hand his son over to the wolf goddess.

"As long as you offer my son the same chances that all other demigods get..."

"To me they are all the same. Weaklings until they have proven their worth to the pack."

Reluctantly Neptune sat his son down, waking him up in the process. Percy looked around, feeling still drowsy from his long sleep. And his memories felt fuzzy. When he looked around he saw a man who felt oddly familiar and a large wolf. He was unsure about what he should do, but at least he did not feel fear. Lupa saw this and smirked with obvious satisfaction.

"You son has more courage than most others." Lupa told Neptune.

Percy looked confused when the wolf called that man his father. "Dad?" He asked, as he looked at Neptune. As far as he could remember he has never met his father... but his memories of his family were sketchy at best.

"Yes, my son." Neptune smiled benevolently at his son. He had waited so long to hear one of his children call him that. "You must be confused about this situation, but it is important that you listen to me and do as I tell you." Percy nodded, unsure about his situation. But he was sure that the man was his father, so he listened. "I am a god. Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. And you, as my son, are a demigod. More powerful than normal humans, but less powerful than a god." Percy looked confused now, not sure what his father meant. "You will learn as time passes. But important for now is, that you will have to stay with Lupa." He gesture towards the wolf. "You will be safe under her care. Listen well to all she teaches you. She will make a true Roman out of you. Make me proud."

"I have to go with this wolf?" Percy asked hesitantly.

"My name is Lupa, sea child, and you would be well advised to never disrespect me." Lupa growled. "I will raise you from now on, together with the other children at the Wolf House."

"Do as she says, Percy. I will have to leave now."

"Will I see you again, dad?" Percy asked quickly. He did not want to leave his father so soon after he had met him. Not now, when his father was the only family he could remember for some reason.

"I will always be with you. When you need me, go to the sea and I will come." Neptune gave his son one last hug, before he dispersed into salt water, leaving only the smell of the sea behind.

Percy felt alone now, until he heard a growl behind him. He turned towards Lupa, who had come closer now. He looked directly into her strange silver eyes as she sniffed at him. "Greek... maybe not..." She muttered. "Come with me, boy. You have a lot to learn." Then she trotted away, back towards the house Percy could see in some distance. Though Lupa did not look back and obviously did not care about him following her or not, he still ran after her. Deep down he felt that it would be a bad idea to be on his own.

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The sound of metal meeting metal could be heard. The clank of a sword impacting with a shield. The clashing of two swords meeting each other. The indignant outcries of two youngsters, fighting each other with shield and sword. A common sound at the Wolf House, where Roman demigods received their first training, before they would be sent off to Camp Jupiter to join the Legion.

"Impressive. You have taught them well, Lupa." Mars said, before he greedily drank from his goblet. He had come, following the invitation from the wolf goddess. She had not told him the exact reason why she wanted him to come, but the promise of a spectacle and wine quickly won him over. And he had not regretted coming. Though it was nothing compared to war, watching two youngsters fight with such fervor and skill was a welcome distraction.

"Jason and Perseus are the finest demigods I've had here since the days before Rome was founded. They will come far and bring fame and honor to the Legion and Rome." Lupa said with a pleased look, that revealed her large canines.

"Pah, comparing them to my sons. Don't be ridiculous. They are good, but not that good." Mars said arrogantly. He still remembered his sons, Romulus and Remus, with great pride. They had founded Rome and created a legacy that had once ruled over the nearly all countries in ancient Europe. Their legacy had brought war across all of Europe, something that Mars had enjoyed greatly.

"They will surpass your sons soon. They are truly marvelous."

"So you asked me to come, so you could gloat. Maybe I should get in there and show them the true limits of their powers. Cut them down before they become too arrogant." Mars said, as he rose from his couch.

"Go ahead and try. But do not kill them. Their fathers wouldn't like that." Lupa said grimly. Even Mars wouldn't survive the anger of both Jupiter and Neptune for long.

Mars only grunted, before he stopped in front of the two young demigods. Two ten year olds in leather armor, armed with shield and blunt training swords looked at him with awe and respect. Mars looked back at Lupa with a wicked grin, before he drew his own sword. He saw no need for a shield.

"Defend yourselves." He bellowed, before he attacked the two boys. Percy and Jason immediately raised their shields, a mistake, as Mars attacks were too strong to be blocked properly. Two attacks later the shields were deformed and useless and the boys watched the god with worry. But they did not back down. They did not beg for mercy like others had done in the same situation. Those two ten year old boys had a look of defiance on their faces now. They knew that they would stand no chance against a god, yet they accepted the challenge and attacked together.

The boys fought well together. Even better than against each other. One attacked, while the other covered him. They had truly learned much under Lupa's tutelage. Mars actually enjoyed fighting them, though he was only toying with the boys.

But their resistance was futile and soon both Percy and Jason were bleeding all over their bodies. Only shallow cuts, but all of them together hurt badly when they moved. But they still defended themselves.

"ENOUGH!" Mars finally yelled, as he saw the boys close to collapsing. "He let out a barking laugh as Percy and Jason sank to the ground and sat there, breathing heavily. Blood and sweat was pouring down their faces and arms.

"Satisfied?" Lupa asked, as she joined the small group.

Mars nodded. "Definitely." He looked closely at the boys.

"They are as powerful as your sons had been."

"They are no children of mine. I would know if they were."

"And their mothers are not Rhea Silvia, yet they even surpass your sons." Lupa said, with obvious satisfaction to see Mars consider her words. The god of war could be as stubborn as a mule if he wanted to be.

Mars finally addressed the boys, after he had scrutinized them for some moments. "Boys, why have you not backed down when you knew that fighting me would be futile? Why fight until your last breath?" He demanded to know.

"For the honor..." Jason said breathlessly.

"We would rather fight to our dying breath if necessary, than to give up and tarnish Rome's honor..." Percy added after a moment.

Mars laughed loudly when he heard their answers. "So you rather preserve your honor than your lives?"

"A life without honor isn't worth living..." Percy said. "We do what is best for Rome... and Rome needs honorable men, not weaklings..."

Lupa's smirk grew even more. He students had become far better men than any other demigods she had trained in the last few centuries. Those two were exactly what Rome needed in these harsh times, when the old glory was long forgotten.

"You were right, Lupa." Mars stated. "They are like my sons. They are worthy heirs of their legacy." He raised his sword, the boys' blood still clinging to its blade, and pointed it at Percy. "You will be my new Romulus..." Then he pointed at Jason, "And you will be my new Remus. You two may not be my sons, but as my champions you will bring back the honor and glory that Rome has lost. Do not fail me." And with those words he flashed away, leaving two stunned boys and an obviously pleased wolf.

Lupa had gotten what she wanted. A new Romulus and Remus. Two heroes that would bring a new Golden Age for Rome. And they had been acknowledged by Mars himself. There was no doubt that the boys' fate would be a great one. One or two more years of training and she would be able to send them to Camp Jupiter. And from there on their fate would be remembered for millenia.


End file.
